The Covenant have finally landed in homes across the world. As planet earth is poised, ready for the epic battle to begin, a handful of US Microsoft employees return from the front line. Battle scarred, deprived of sleep and blistered, they reveal their hot tips for waging war on the Covenant...and each other... here’s what they have to say.
LegoLife
"Chat early, chat often. Lots of dead time on the air seemed to lead to lots of dead Spartans on the ground.
Know your colour. I can’t tell you how many times I was shot (and sometimes killed) by friendly fire from folks who didn’t seem to know what team they were on.
You don’t have to dual wield. It is very very cool, but a well-placed grenade followed by a burst of SMG fire will do the trick faster as well as give you an easier way to flush those campers out of the blind spots.
Sword play. Many folks seemed to either stand still or even charge me when I had the sword. Remember: Distance is your friend when fighting against the sword, so throw it into reverse and keep a bead on the Elite’s head."
Gimpster
"All of the maps have multiple angles of attack, no matter where you are on the map, and many times they are out of range of your motion tracker, so you always need to keep a keen eye on who’s sneaking up behind you. Twirl that hulking mass of hot, sexy Spartan armor around like a ballerina and keep track of the full 360.
Team games are called that for a reason. Pick your wingman and stick by his side no matter what. If you come across a lone enemy, one of you may go down, but you are practically guaranteed to take them out as well.
Don’t discount the Battle Rifle just because you can’t play Rambo with it. Instead, think S.W.A.T. A few well-placed shots will take out the other guy well before he can do any serious damage to you, and aside from the sniper rifle, nothing else has that 'reach out and smack someone' power. On top of that, you can zoom in for those long-range pot shots across the map, which works well to disrupt the other team’s flow in an attack."
Strife
"Dual-wielded Needlers are deadly from a distance. Don't try to use them up-close though. By the time you fill someone full of Needles up-close, they'll have taken you out as well, and the only good fight is one you can walk away from.
The Covenant sword is an excellent weapon in tight, winding hallways (think of the Ivory Tower's hallways). The hallways not only make it hard for the person to backpedal away from you, but they also keep them close enough to get a lock on them. Ninety-degree corners are great ambush spots.
Make sure to use both the standard and melee attacks of the Covenant sword. They are different.
Always lob a grenade into the waterfall "pit" in Ivory Tower when you pass it. Seven times out of ten someone is in there either hiding or collecting the rocket launcher.
The Needler makes an excellent 'enemy finder.' Pair one person with Needlers with a player carrying a sniper rifle. Fire the Needlers in a direction that you think the enemy is hiding. If they curve away from their standard path, you've found someone. Have the sniper shoot in the direction the Needler went."
KingCobra
This guy is apparently getting his PhD in Halo 2. Here's his doctoral dissertation …
Maps
Map knowledge is still, as always, critical to your success.
Midship: On flag games, timing is critical. So is team work. Learn to use the elevators if you're carrying the flag to escape predators.
Waterworks: If you're on defence, play defence. I have seen many games where everyone blindly rushes out of the door to go kill the enemy. Trust me, they’ll come to you. I also love tank camping. It’s very fun on this map.
Zanzibar: Use the rocket launcher to guard the flag on CTF. Go on the offensive for Assault. Never give up running down a flag runner. Your team can come up with unexpected delays for the runner, and I have seen games decided at the flag plant location with the offensive team denied a point right at the scoring location on the beach. If you go swimming, watch out for sharks.
Ivory Tower: This map takes a little while to learn. There are many ways to approach playing the map, but generally higher is better. Look for rockets under the water. Bomb the other team on Assault.
Lockout: This was the grenadefest map in the Alpha, and it turned into a bloody Plasma Sword slash map in the Beta. Learn to jump for CTF wins.
Weapons
Pick your weapons carefully. The shotgun and battle rifle combo is nice, but the plasma sword is also scary deadly. The effectiveness of the weapon and results will vary, depending on the size of the map, reload locations, etc.
Battle rifle: In the beta, it was a blast using this weapon to blow up explosive canisters next to the enemy. The weapon is more effective than many gave it credit for. More people started using it towards the end of the Beta.
Shotgun: Still the wonderful tight-quarters weapon of choice. It will be interesting to see if it gets a tad more choke in the final release, for longer-range effectiveness.
Rockets: Target tracking is awesome. Need I say more? Oh, yes, I shall. Target tracking a flag runner should be an option for arranged games. That would be a fun twist occasionally.
SMG: Dual wielding the SMG is too much fun. It’s a little hard to hold them down, but running forward helps.
Plasma Sword: Lunge attacks rock. It takes some practice to play some plasma sword-only games, and you’ll get the idea quickly.
Vehicles
Ghost Jacking is too fun. Tank Jacking is fun, but not as satisfying as stealing the ghost from the other team.
Banshee: Boosting is cool, but doing rolls and flips is beyond fun. There’s nothing like avoiding a rocket with a well-timed roll to the right or left.
Wraith Tank: It’s a bit slow for my taste, but I love the cannon. I look forward to seeing this more often in different maps.
Warthog: Blowing up warthogs is a blast, so to speak. I also like the ability to use the rocket launcher or whatever it’s called on the back. Stay away from the horn, though. Also, don’t go charging up Zanzibar at the beginning of the game, unless you really like rocket wash in your teeth.
